Retired Bob Posted February 22, 2020 Author Share Posted February 22, 2020 A bit more accomplished today, the gun barrels are now dunkelgelb, as are the engine deck grills and the other bits of grey plastic that were showing. I'm now assembling the "magic tracks" to wrap around the running gear, I'll post some pictures asap. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper dog Posted February 23, 2020 Share Posted February 23, 2020 Thought I'd had one to many and was seeing double for a minute! You don't hang around! Lovely work going on and interesting picking out the development. Looking forward to seeing the paintwork. Cheers Darryl 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Bob Posted February 23, 2020 Author Share Posted February 23, 2020 13 minutes ago, Jasper dog said: Looking forward to seeing the paintwork. Today I put the big number 11 on each side and the back of the turret, my plan was to put masking tape numbers on the white painted areas, I then sprayed another coat of white over the masking tape to prevent any seepage of dunkelgelb under the tape, after spraying on the dunkelgelb I thought, shall I check how it looks or wait until after I have applied the green camouflage. Well I had a peek and the numbers came out perfectly painted, however, I had cut the masking tape numbers using a Bison decal sheet of this tank as a guide, when I compared them to the photos there were some obvious errors so I will do it again tomorrow, cutting my masks using the photos I have, I'm sure I can do better than the Bison effort. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Bob Posted February 24, 2020 Author Share Posted February 24, 2020 Todays effort went as planned, more or less, just took a bit longer than I expected but I got the camouflage on as well so can't grumble. Here are some photos of how it looks now. Paint is Tamiya XF-88 dark yellow and XF- 89 dark green, since I took the photos I have gone over the numbers with some off white paint and a hairy stick, adding some drips and runs so they don't look too perfect, well that's the plan. Now I can start the weathering process, though not too much as these tanks were less than 6 months old when they were self destructed by their crews. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Bob Posted March 1, 2020 Author Share Posted March 1, 2020 On the first KT, I have attached the side shields and I'm applying washes and highlights to bring up the detail, I'm still to get the tracks on before I can attach the upper hull. I've used oils to "muddy" up the hull and they take quite a while to dry, gives me time to get the tow cables and tools ready. The second KT is ready to be painted, I have a set of masks by J's Work that I bought years ago, as can be seen, they are a couple of A4 sized sheets of masking tape with the camouflage pattern cut into them, flat sheets of masking tape on a lumpy, bumpy tank , what could go wrong? Has anyone used these masks before? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 Good luck with that Bob!! John. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redcoat2966 Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 I wish you all the best with those masks Bob, can't say I envy you with application. I had a similar set in with the new Border Model Panzer IV........decided on an alternate camo' look.........I'll be curious on how you get on, especially as you say on an uneven surface with Zimerite....... The camo' on the number 11 looks great. Cheers Simon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Bob Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 10 hours ago, Redcoat2966 said: I wish you all the best with those masks Bob, can't say I envy you with application. I had a similar set in with the new Border Model Panzer IV........decided on an alternate camo' look.........I'll be curious on how you get on, especially as you say on an uneven surface with Zimerite....... The camo' on the number 11 looks great. Cheers Simon, when I found these masking sets on the Lucky Models web site I thought It would the answer to camouflage masking problems, so I bought a load of them, Tigers, KTs, Panthers, JagdPanther and even a Kursk camouflaged Ferdinand. As yet I have not used any of them because of the obvious problems, there is not much in the way of instructions other than to use masking fluid if a gap happens when applying the masks. There are separate sections for the hull, turret, gun barrel and track guards, but since the camouflage continues from the hull onto the track guards I have attached them to the hull so that I can mask them as one piece. I've delayed long enough, I'm going to see if they work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper dog Posted March 3, 2020 Share Posted March 3, 2020 7 hours ago, Retired Bob said: I thought It would the answer to camouflage masking problems, so I bought a load of them, Tigers, KTs, Panthers, JagdPanther and even a Kursk camouflaged Ferdinand. As yet I have not used any of them because of the obvious problems, there is not much in the way of instructions other than to use masking fluid if a gap happens when applying the masks. There are separate sections for the hull, turret, gun barrel and track guards, but since the camouflage continues from the hull onto the track guards I have attached them to the hull so that I can mask them as one piece. I've delayed long enough, I'm going to see if they work. Hi Bob, I'll bet you aren't the only one! I know I've a set or two somewhere, they seemed a good idea, on paper. Good luck, I'll be interested to see how they work. Atb Darryl 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Bob Posted March 3, 2020 Author Share Posted March 3, 2020 12 hours ago, Jasper dog said: I know I've a set or two somewhere, they seemed a good idea, on paper. Hi Darryl, Indeed they did seem a good idea, but putting them into practice is not so easy, I thought I would start with the turret and gun barrel to see if I could get an accurate camouflage pattern. I did consider cutting each panel for the turret separately, but I did not think that would work or look like like the patterns on photos. The only way I could see to use any of these masks was to use selective parts and re-create a viable camouflage pattern. I will spray the turret and see how that looks before doing anything with the hull. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingsman Posted March 3, 2020 Share Posted March 3, 2020 I bought a couple of similar sets of masks from DN Models, but one look at them said they were never going to work. So I ended up brush-painting. Might I suggest White Tack? Cheaper and more widely available than Panzer Putty etc. Cheap enough to be disposable. There are other brand alternatives. Don't use Blu Tack or its imitations. You can use a tool to press it around lumps and bumps and into depressions to make sure it seals. And you can shape it, even trim it, to just the right shape once applied. I have heard of people using White Tack for the edges of large areas and masking tape to fill in the centre. That "Lion Fish" scheme would have been hand-applied in the field and probably not as uber-neatly as the artwork makes out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soeren Posted March 3, 2020 Share Posted March 3, 2020 (edited) I had those vinyl masks for my hetzer those were rather stiff and the adhesive wasnt too strong either. But puttying it on was no option either, as it would have taken aeons to get the shapes right. Maybe it is a bit easier with those worms. I did my first Tiger with some Putty. And that worked reasonably well. Although, the transitions were too sharp for my taste, so I resprayed them free hand for a better look. I am curious to see how you like them masks. Nice progress so far. I really wonder if the pattern you attempt was really that sharp anyway. Maybe again this is just the interpretation of the masks designer? Edited March 3, 2020 by Soeren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Bob Posted March 3, 2020 Author Share Posted March 3, 2020 1 hour ago, Das Abteilung said: That "Lion Fish" scheme would have been hand-applied in the field and probably not as uber-neatly as the artwork makes out. Hi Das, as I said, I bought these quite a few years ago and as I wanted a "Lion Fish" camouflage I thought I'd give it a go. I have used white tac to get a hard edge camo scheme before, but as this scheme is very tight and on zimmerit I Really did not want to try it with white tac. As for the neatness aspect, that is the old problem when modelling, from D-Day markings to field applied camouflage schemes, if you do them realistically rough it just makes you look like a naff modeller. 1 hour ago, Soeren said: I really wonder if the pattern you attempt was really that sharp anyway. Maybe again this is just the interpretation of the masks designer? Compared to available photos there are quite a few errors with these J's Work masks so that is why I am not following them too closely, and the areas that I cannot find photos of......well who can say it's wrong. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soeren Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 Ah I see. Yes, the masks loon like a stylized interpretation. If I was to try thus I would most likely go free hand. Start with dunkelgelb add wide green stripes and the more narrow brown stripes. At least that would be my interpretation of that picture you added. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Bob Posted March 4, 2020 Author Share Posted March 4, 2020 My interpretation of this scheme as seen at Mailly le Camp in France, worn by tanks of 3/s.H.Pz.Abt. 503 is like this: Some of these tanks show a thin dunkelgelb line between the green and brown, the poor quality of the photos do not show the same pattern so strongly marked on the hull, I used the barrel masks as on the guide but when I took the tape off all the paint including the primer came off as well, even though I had keyed the gun barrel before priming. On looking at the photo in my earlier post there were no stripes along the barrel so I have just re-created the areas of green and brown. What are the thoughts out there, go with it or go with something more "conventional" like this: Thanks for looking and any comments are more than welcome. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Bob Posted March 9, 2020 Author Share Posted March 9, 2020 Time to get some camouflage on the hull since no one commented against this scheme. just as with the turret, I have used only the thin dividing strips from the masking set, mainly as a guide to spraying the brown and green areas, I could brush paint these areas but Tamiya acrylic sprays better than it brushes and my Iwata Revolution airbrush produces a fine spray so I can paint without any extra masking, and with all the nooks and crannies to get in to, an airbrush is much easier and it's good practice to fine spray awkward shapes. So I have checked my pattern with a B and G so it's time to paint by letters. Any comments welcome, thanks for looking. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 Looks good to me, a pity the Airfix kit is of a non zimmerated (?) example, I'd be keen to have a go at a scheme like this with it. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M3talpig Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 UMMM Tigers my favourite subject....keep up the great work this is gonna look awesome when your done , can't wait to see the finished vehicle. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Bob Posted March 10, 2020 Author Share Posted March 10, 2020 16 hours ago, stevehnz said: Looks good to me, a pity the Airfix kit is of a non zimmerated (?) example, I'd be keen to have a go at a scheme like this with it. Hi Steve, yes it's a pity that Airfix did not bother with zimmerit as all these early King Tigers were covered with it, are there no other kits of that scale available? It's taken me two days of masking and painting on just the hull, I'm now going over the camouflage with a hairy stick to make it look field applied. It shows how much effort the crews put into these schemes, they look most impressive from surviving photos and of course they had the time while the allies were pinned down, fighting their way out of the bocage. The famous photos of German crews painting camouflage on newly delivered King Tigers, the first with the new production turret, also without spare track hanging brackets (most modellers know it as the Henschel turret) shows the effort they put into this task, after all their lives depended on how effective their camouflage was. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Bob Posted March 10, 2020 Author Share Posted March 10, 2020 1 hour ago, M3talpig said: UMMM Tigers my favourite subject....keep up the great work this is gonna look awesome when your done , can't wait to see the finished vehicle. Same here, I have 14 1/35th kits of Tigers, King Tigers and JagdTigers, I'm trying to make as many different ones as possible. I just wish I could build them faster. How could I resist one of these: 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M3talpig Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 Just now, Retired Bob said: Same here, I have 14 1/35th kits of Tigers, King Tigers and JagdTigers, I'm trying to make as many different ones as possible. I just wish I could build them faster. How could I resist one of these: I completely sympathise with your plight i just started a project thread on my first Tiger build in years and i just want to start the next one already ....have to resist. I've got so many i want to do that i'm overflowing with ideas and paint schemes i want to do. So many Tigers so little time🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper dog Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 Looking good, the time taken over the masking is really paying off. Think it'll look rather striking when done. (For what's it worth the I've never made a straight Tiger I or II, however I do have both waiting for some unspecified time. Too many kits to little time....) By the way, I think the turret came out really well. Cheers Darryl 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Bob Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share Posted March 11, 2020 A quick update on my "Lion Fish" KT, I have filled in the areas of green and brown to match the turret, it's still a work in progress. Any comments are welcome, Thanks for looking. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaoinas Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 Looking very good. It's a good thing that it's not too perfect, you know. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper dog Posted March 12, 2020 Share Posted March 12, 2020 Really taking shape now Bob, sure this will be brilliant when done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now